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The other day Joel, our three year old, wanted to wrestle.
This is pretty normal he loves it… He can’t get enough… There is one problem…

He always looses…

Every time…
I win ALL wrestling matches ever….

But the other day I realized something, I might win every time….

That does not stop him from wrestling just as hard the next time….
No matter how quickly he lost, he gets up thinking “this could be the time that I win”…
He doesn’t look at his past failures, his miserable losses, he thinks he can win… Every time we face off..

Wrestling with dad is teaching Joel endurance and the courage to get up and try again…

What if we all lived like that, so stubborn, so naive to our past, so excited about the future… So quick to jump back in give it another chance.

As his dad I know, with every wrestling match, he gets stronger… It really is only a matter or time before he beats me…

Saturday, February 16th my beautiful wife and best friend Grace celebrated the life of our now three year old Joel… This glorious day got me thinking… What are three of the most important things I have taught him over his short little life thus far… Whelp, here goes:

#1. My Daddy and Mommy Love Me:

This is a phrase that I have him repeat back to me when he has been punished, when we are playing trucks or just whenever I feel necessary…I do this BECAUSE: I don’t want Joel EVER to think even for ONE MOMENT that he is not loved… For better or worse one day Joel is going to hear that GOD is like a LOVING FATHER…When Joel hears this, I want him to be able to have a visual of what that looks like. I believe it is my job to make this illustration be the best it can be. This doesn’t mean that I allow him to do whatever he wants, no Love is correcting when he needs to be corrected and celebrating when he does what is asked. I can only imagine how his little life will impact the world because he no matter what happens “My Daddy and Mommy Love Me”….

#2. Daddy Date Time:

This is something we do, once a week I am very intentional with this. We go every week to Tim Horton’s (Because that’s where Fathers take their kids when they love them). We eat donuts and we make plans for what we will do next. He looks forward to those times and so do I!!! Here is what I hope to teach him through this activity…. We must be intentional in spending time with those we love the most… When He grows up, Joel will know (Because every week we take a picture) that his father made time every week to show him that he was VERY IMPORTANT.

#3. Apologizing Brings Freedom:

Lately, Joel will do something like, push his sister or blatantly disobey instructions. When he realizes what he has done he will often begin to pout and go into his room and sit on his bed. He doesn’t necessarily cry but he does have a look on his face that says the sky is falling. I have been trying to teach him that rather than running to his room after he has made a mistake, rather than moping around and pouting in his room, he needs to apologize for what he has done. I am trying to coach him that its not the moping and the pouting that will change the feelings of regret and shame, the healing begins with a simple apology. I am trying to coach Joel to realize that the sooner he apologizes the sooner he is free from guilt and shame. If he learns this now, nothing will ever stand in his way he will be a humble and confident man. There is nothing more humbling than saying “I am Sorry” there is nothing more freeing that a heart felt apology!

Well there you have it… Three for Three…. There are many more things I have hopefully taught him but these are the BIG THREE that came to mind when I wrote this and they are also the most consistent.